"Country First"

It's now time to live up to that slogan.

That means to work with the candidate that won.

I must admit though that I am worried ... and I do want to be wrong, but the bar might be too high.

Am I being jaded or am I respecting history?

Will the Left become as power hungry and corrupt as the Right has been in recent years? Will they ignore that huge swath of the population that voted for the other guy? Will they repeat the mistake of only considering The Base to be who they answer to exclusively? Already, I feel that some of those characteristics have come through during the campaign season where simply being willing to discuss McCain as a viable president was met with accusations and innuendos that this was a personal shortcoming.

It is clear that for the first time the Democrats were organized. Republicans have out organized the Democrats over the past several election cycles and that lesson was finally learned. Obama benefited from the past several years of organization efforts and motivation that virtually any other Democratic candidate would have benefited from. (Oh, and if you think the election cycle this time was long, the 2012 primary season just began today for the Republicans ... if it didn't start a couple weeks ago already.) In the end though, he was simply the right candidate.

I am afraid of a smug arrogance coming from the Left that could push too hard because even a solid victory is not a true mandate to run a steamroller over the opposition.

I am afraid of the near saintlike reverence many of Obama's supporters have for him. He is a good man and we need to understand that he will make mistakes as president and do some things that we do not support. That is okay.

Bear in mind I sat there last night watching the results, despite my plan of not doing so. I found McCain's concession speech to reflect the man of integrity and honor he really is but that his campaign failed to really display. Obama stepped up to the plate clearly as a man torn over both personal tragedy and triumph and showed what a president needs to be.

The bar is set high, but I guess that it could still prove to be a good thing ... maybe we need that. Americans have historically risen to the challenges and we have been driven down by those in power who want us to be afraid for far too long.

But, Country First includes those that voted for the other guy. One impression I have had is that Obama voters respect McCain, but that is certainly not the case the other way. When President-Elect Obama commented that people did not just vote for him, but had not yet earned his trust and that he wanted to be their president too, it became clear that he really does understand.

Yes, I have my apprehensions. I do not want to get fooled again.

But, I have actually got hope; which is audacious today.